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How to become a Local Government Administrative Officer

Works for a local council, handling the administration of council services for residents, from planning and drafting policy and preparing budgets to day-to-day operations.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say university or high school is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

You must pass a local government recruitment exam or selection process. The content and names of the exams differ between councils, but in many cases they are divided into levels such as Level 1 (university graduate level), Level 2 (junior college graduate level) and Level 3 (high school graduate level). There is usually a first and second stage, with general knowledge tests, specialist tests and interviews. Promotion is generally based on performance and ability. Job titles differ between councils, but people usually move from leading a team, for example as team leader, to management positions such as section head and department head. Local government work covers many fields, so you need a broad interest in all areas of government, a spirit of service to local residents, and fairness and neutrality.

Ways in

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Local Government Administrative Officer?

You must pass a local government recruitment exam or selection process. The content and names of the exams differ between councils, but in many cases they are divided into levels such as Level 1 (university graduate level), Level 2 (junior college graduate level) and Level 3 (high school graduate level). There is usually a first and second stage, with general knowledge tests, specialist tests and interviews. Promotion is generally based on performance and ability. Job titles differ between councils, but people usually move from leading a team, for example as team leader, to management positions such as section head and department head. Local government work covers many fields, so you need a broad interest in all areas of government, a spirit of service to local residents, and fairness and neutrality.

Do you need a degree to become a Local Government Administrative Officer?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 55% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: College of technology (高等専門学校, kosen); Vocational college (専門学校) course: Law and public administration.

Will AI change the work of a Local Government Administrative Officer?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026